The New Year’s Resolution started 4,000 years ago where the Babylonians made promises to their gods at the start of each year to return borrowed objects and pay their debts. However, their New Year was celebrated in March on occurrence of the first new moon where there was equal amount of sunlight and darkness.
It wasn’t until Ancient Rome that the New Year was changed to January 1st. January was named after Janus – the two-faced god whose spirit occupied doorways and arches. They believed that Janus symbolically looked backwards into the previous year and ahead into the future; hence the Romans offered sacrifices to the god and made promises of good conduct for the coming year.
For early Christians the first day of the New Year became a traditional occasion for thinking about how to resolve mistakes from the past year and how to be better in the future. They created the Covenant Renewal Service most commonly held on New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day, where they would spend their time celebrating the coming of the New Year and making resolutions.
We have over 350 volunteers who are the backbone of the services we provide and without them we would not be able to provide the help we do for our patients and their families. However it is not all about what you can do for us, but also what we can do for you. Many of our volunteers learn new skills, widen their social circle and have an amazing experience knowing that every minute of their free time helps support the Hospice. So why not find out more about our fantastic volunteer opportunities by clicking here and make your New Year’s Resolution today!